When Linda Burney gave her first speech to Parliament in 2003, she spoke of growing up Aboriginal in a country where your reflection in the mirror was "at best ugly and distorted, and at worst non-existent".

It's a moment that encapsulates "the fighting Wiradjuri spirit" Linda brings to all facets of her life — a spirit tested through decades of battles, personal tragedies, and the complex balance between symbolic gestures and practical outcomes.

Today, Linda reflects on this National Reconciliation Week, and discusses her long career in state and federal politics and her life post-retirement.